Arts & Culture

Women’s National Basketball Association

American sports organization
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Print
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: WNBA
WNBA
WNBA
Date:
1997 - present
Areas Of Involvement:
basketball
professionalism

Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), American women’s professional basketball league that began play in 1997.

(Read James Naismith’s 1929 Britannica essay on his invention of basketball.)

Serena Williams poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the Women's Singles final against Venus Williams of the United States on day 13 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (tennis, sports)
Britannica Quiz
Great Moments in Sports Quiz

The WNBA was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) Board of Governors as a women’s analogue to the NBA. Each of the first eight WNBA franchises was located in a city that was also home to an NBA team, often with nicknames and uniform colours that were evocative of their men’s counterparts. The NBA owned each of the franchises until 2002, when it began allowing the sale of franchises to ownership groups in cities that did not have NBA teams and to groups in NBA cities that were unaffiliated with those NBA teams.

The first four WNBA titles were won by the Houston Comets, with teams that featured two of the league’s first superstars in Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes. Helped by the dissolution of the rival American Basketball League in 1999, the WNBA grew in the early years of the 21st century to become the most successful American women’s professional sports league ever, helped along by the popularity of outstanding players such as Rebecca Lobo, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson.

The WNBA is divided into two divisions that each consist of six teams and are aligned as follows:

Winners of the WNBA championship are provided in the table.

Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now
Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Championship*
year winner runner-up results
*Best-of-three final series until 2005; thereafter best-of-five series.
1997 Houston Comets New York Liberty 1–0
1998 Houston Comets Phoenix Mercury 2–1
1999 Houston Comets New York Liberty 2–1
2000 Houston Comets New York Liberty 2–0
2001 Los Angeles Sparks Charlotte Sting 2–0
2002 Los Angeles Sparks New York Liberty 2–0
2003 Detroit Shock Los Angeles Sparks 2–1
2004 Seattle Storm Connecticut Sun 2–1
2005 Sacramento Monarchs Connecticut Sun 3–1
2006 Detroit Shock Sacramento Monarchs 3–2
2007 Phoenix Mercury Detroit Shock 3–2
2008 Detroit Shock San Antonio Silver Stars 3–0
2009 Phoenix Mercury Indiana Fever 3–2
2010 Seattle Storm Atlanta Dream 3–0
2011 Minnesota Lynx Atlanta Dream 3–0
2012 Indiana Fever Minnesota Lynx 3–1
2013 Minnesota Lynx Atlanta Dream 3–0
2014 Phoenix Mercury Chicago Sky 3–0
2015 Minnesota Lynx Indiana Fever 3–2
2016 Los Angeles Sparks Minnesota Lynx 3–2
2017 Minnesota Lynx Los Angeles Sparks 3–2
2018 Seattle Storm Washington Mystics 3–0
2019 Washington Mystics Connecticut Sun 3–2
2020 Seattle Storm Las Vegas Aces 3–0
2021 Chicago Sky Phoenix Mercury 3–1
2022 Las Vegas Aces Connecticut Sun 3–1
2023 Las Vegas Aces New York Liberty 3–1
Adam Augustyn